Four days before The Covenant School mass shooting, Reps. Sam Whitson and Darren Jernigan wrote a letter asking Gov. Bill Lee to form an extreme risk task force to “temporarily separate” high-risk people from their guns.
They’d started working on a plan in late 2022 for an extreme risk protection order bill and debated the best time to send the letter to the governor. Two days after the March 27 murder of six people, including three 9-year-olds, at the Nashville private Christian elementary school, Whitson personally handed the letter to Lee.
“It is imperative Lee call a special session as quickly as possible and that crafted legislation concerning mental health and gun violence be in place to help maximize the chances of passing this important legislation in both chambers of the legislature,” Whitson, a Franklin Republican and retired Army colonel, and Jernigan, an Old Hickory Democrat, said in a statement.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga private schools consider security following Nashville shooting)
The bipartisan duo would still like to see a task force come up with a recommendation in advance of a special session.